


Feeding

by Blue_Hood



Series: Blood Bond [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Souled Vampire(s), Supernatural Elements, Vampire Bites, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19375600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Cooper can only come out at night so sometimes Phil sleeps during the day.





	Feeding

Jemma sensed there was a pattern to the days Coulson spent a few hours in his bunk. When she mentioned it to the team, they confirmed her suspicions by reminding her that Cooper had to feed from the source sometimes. No one cared when Coulson started catching extra hours of sleep on random days. They noticed because Phil behaved a certain way when he was heading to his bunk to sleep off the cravings. Soon after Cooper joined, Coulson had given the team the chance to ask any vampire questions of him before they went to Cooper with their questions. The whole Q&A was very educational and made the transition easier once the bond was explained to the best of Coulson's abilities. When he was going to sleep off the cravings, he'd get up suddenly and march like a robot to his room. The younger agents had heard Clint's description of the Phil Coulson he'd bonded with (a stoic bureaucrat who lived and breathed bureaucracy). They'd been present when Tony made a joke about the reports being in bureaucrat terms. Just from how the Avengers talk about him, it's obvious he's changed.

The first time Cooper fed from him, after the bond bite, he made things clear as the effects faded "I'm not like my father. I know being bonded to him taught you how to time feedings but that's the only part that's the same. He's a lot nicer about it, I take what I need."

"Understood."

"No, you don't but you will," then he was gone.

When Cooper found Coulson asleep at feeding time, the agent was woken with the bite. One arm around him keeping him still. After the initial jolt, the bite's pleasant effects relaxed his muscles. Cooper kept his fangs in a little longer than needed, he was his mother's child as much as his father hated to admit it. Once he could talk coherently again, Phil said "That felt longer than normal."

"It was," Cooper's bite mark was already gone by that time.

Phil had to will his brain to think straight, a few years dealing with Clint's charm helped, "Why?" Cooper nuzzled Phil's neck and the calming affect of his presence took hold, relaxing him into forgetting he'd asked a question. Holding him close, Cooper lulled Coulson to sleep.

The next night, Cooper left. Skye noticed first, as the window in his bunk wasn't shaded which was dangerous for a vampire. "Does anyone know where Cooper went? I saw sunlight coming from his bunk."

Phil took a few deep breaths "He's not dead. I don't know where he is."

"I think you saw him last."

Phil gave her his best bland smile "The bond lets him put me to sleep."

"Okay but none of us saw him last night, right?" The other three gave confirmation.

Phil cut in "Whatever you do, don't call Clint. They're both young by vampire standards and the last thing we need is an angsty vampire. He'll be back. Clint did the same thing,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he pulled disappearing acts. For all we know, he's just picking up fresh blood bags to sequence." Seeing his scientists' sad faces, he asked "Still haven't figured out the scanner?"

"We can't even figure out the box," answered Fitz.

"Wow. Well I guess it is child-proofed and by vampire standards, you might be children."

"What?" asked Simmons.

"Have you tried undoing all the locks, even the ones in the back?"

"Oh," Fitz was the first to facepalm "It locks in the back."

"I can show you how to use the scanner."

"Really? That'd be wonderful."

On the way down to the lab, Coulson said "I'm in the system because of Clint, their scanners are networked so his kids can use his. Cooper's shouldn't be too different from his father's." Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, he set them down beside the scanner and started sequencing with Fitz "Give me your hand palm down." Pressing his hand beside the display, which would be backwards on a copier, Coulson held it down after the initial prick until the display filled up. "Blood type?" Simmons answered and Phil entered the short-hand code, making a note of it before letting the hand go "Look at your palm now."

"There's no sign any blood was drawn. Incredible," commented Simmons.

"Vampires can heal their bites, I don't know how but the machine does the same. Let's get everyone sequenced in."

As Simmons went, Skye clarified "If these are networked then there's a limit, right?"

"Yes, the system deletes the oldest sequence to add a new one but those people are probably already dead."

"Right."

Once Simmons was entered, May stepped forward "I'll go next."

Coulson nodded and took her wrist, explaining at the look she gave him "We instinctively pull away from the prick." She nodded and he guided her hand down "After the initial jolt, it's easier to just let the system run its course but just to be safe. Clint explained all this when he sequenced me in."

"Why did you need to use the sequencer?"

"When Clint was badly hurt, he'd need blood but wouldn't feed directly in case he couldn't stop himself. Being able to sequence and bring bags solved the problem."

Skye drawled "Okay."

Simmons needed no prompting from Coulson to recite the blood type once the screen filled and Skye's sequencing was smooth with no questions. Hesitating before he began to enter the code to switch to manual, Coulson called Clint "I need the manual code for Cooper's sequencer."

"Give me a minute and I'll even authorize your chemist." After a minute, "1964, birth year of the band Alice Cooper. Started as a joke but I believe Coop left it."

Coulson typed the code and tapped the small progress bar display aside "That worked, authorize the second sequence in the new set, that's my biochemist. Thank you," he hung up. Hitting one of the hidden buttons, he pulled out what would've been the paper drawer. "Give me a blood bag." Simmons passed him one and watched as he put it in and entered a code before closing the drawer. The smaller display snapped into place to show a loading bar under a long string of numbers. Coulson tapped the paper with his pen before moving on to unlock the box "Now try, Fitz." When the box easily flipped open, he explained "Some locks are hidden along the seal. Clint will authorize," he grabbed Simmons' wrist before she could touch the scanner "You to use that later."

After the team slept through a few daylight hours, they caught Cooper's return. Coulson stood "My office, now."

Following him up, Cooper asked with a smirk "What's wrong?"

"You're part of my team, you need to tell me if you're going to vanish. You can take time off but you have to ask first."

Cooper closed the distance between them with measured steps, not shooting forward as his father was wont to do, "You really don't get it-" He was cut off by Coulson pinching a nerve.

"Your father is pretty big on human/vampire equality. I get that's not your thing but you still need to respect the chain of command."

"Okay." Cooper rubbed his neck where Coulson pinched him, "I've been working with digital computers since they're debut. I can probably outmaneuver any human with technology and overpower most physically."

"Alright, this is progress. I don't ask for much but when you signed on as a Specialist, you agreed to be part of this team."

Cooper bit back "My alternatives involved you and Father suffering. I needed to be listed as something and vampire is out of the question."

Coulson sighed "All I ask is you respect how things work here."

"Too bad Fury can't just assign quick recovery missions without exposing our secret."

Thinking aloud, Coulson said "You can get access anywhere?"

"As long as there's shadows and no sunlight," Cooper grinned.

"I'll see what I can do for work."

"I have other obligations. Only Father and I can restore a vampire's human form."

"Right."

Cooper reached out hesitantly, the memory of the pain this human could inflict still fresh, "Scenting?" Coulson nodded and Cooper shot forward, burying his nose in the agent's neck. "Father tell you how old he truly is?"

"Over 200," answered Coulson.

"Not quite 300," confirmed Cooper. "I'm over a hundred, as is Lila. We age slowly and eventually stop. Father can only grow enough to be of healthy weight and height for the era, he can't age."

Coulson moved his hands and Cooper caught them, pressing them to his human's side. "Can-?" Cooper looked him in the eye before burying his nose again.

A few minutes passed and his struggling got annoying so Cooper let go, "I'm nocturnal, you're not."

"You can come by my bunk to scent." When that seemed to upset Cooper more, Coulson added "I'll try to spend more nights up."

Cooper nodded "Are we done?"

"Here? Yes. You need to make sure Simmons is authorized to use your sequencer."

"Will do, sir."

As Cooper left, Coulson collapsed into his desk chair. The reprimand got really off-track, Phil called Clint "Sup?"

"Remember when you covered general powers versus those tied to a bond? I need a refresher."

"Did you try to reprimand Coop?"

"Yes."

"You can't do that." Clint cringed at his word choice "You're not capable of it. You can stop him but you'll always side with him when he's close by. If I get in trouble with the Avengers, I'm gonna ask Tony not be present for the debrief or whatever."

"Great."

"Don't you have a second in command on your new team?"

"May, yes."

"Give her the phone and we'll figure something out."

"I'll call her into my office."

May joined them and Phil put Clint on speaker. "The bond makes both parties defensive of each other. It marks the human as ours to other vampires and makes them just as defensive about threats towards us. Distance dulls the human's defensiveness but our ability to sense their mortality is tied to our possessiveness. Honestly, I'm not sure Cooper has learned to dial it back as much as I have. I'm guessing he's already told you he'll take what he wants and he's not like me."

"Something like that."

"A broken bond combined with heartbreak, it's what makes Cooper so careful about bonding."

"Oh, so-"

"Only the human half can break the bond and you know how hard that is, just like only the vampire half can build the bond."

"Ah," Coulson looked at May.

"The plan is simple, Phil is team leader but where Cooper's concerned, May is his CO."

"That'll work."

"Easier to explain the bond's effects as an outside vampire. Talk to you later." He hung up.


End file.
